Gas Monkey is alias for my boy toy. A suitable name in more ways than one. To Gas Monkey: I am very sorry, but it had to be done.
Anyways, Gas Monkey has been working really hard on a gasifier prototype for the Denver Zoo. He's been working 14 hour days, six days a week, for a long time. He's been stressed, losing weight, and losing patience with himself. Very bad Gas Monkey. Luckily, his efforts came to fruition last Thursday, and it was a huge success. Now he can come and visit me, because frankly that is the most important thing. Or if he was smart he'd say it is. But he didn't, and that is why he is being publicly dubbed Gas Monkey.
A few weeks earlier, 9 News did a special on his prototype. While his boss did most of the talking in the interview, Gas Monkey managed to squeeze in a few key phrases, such as "The good stuff" and "This is where the magic happens." Thank goodness Gas Monkey provided the camera with some awesome catch phrases, because "squeezing the poo" and shots of elephant butts gets pretty old. Here is the link to the article and video (which is in the right hand corner of the screen).
http://www.9news.com/life/programming/shows/evenings/article.aspx?storyid=116243
Also, look for this hand, and another hand with rings on it. What can I say? Gas Monkey is the only unmarried man I know with a ring fetish. 
This week has been pretty crazy. Last Monday, we were mistnetting in Oak Creek Canyon, a small canyon near Nephi, Utah. We were netting along a small creek in a small open pool. I was hoping for just one bat; I thought surely there would be too much water around to be too successful. Well, that night we caught 80 bats, in just three nets. For those outside the know, that is a lot of bats. Normally, I'd call 20 bats in a night a good night. Eighty bats is almost unheard of. That is almost a personal record for me. Anyways, we caught five different species: Silver-haired bats, big brown bats, Hoary bats, Long-eared bats, and Long-legged bats. It was pretty hectic. Even when we would close a net, we would check it and there would be 3 more in it (we didn't wrap the net, which we probably should of). There was only two experienced mistnetters (including myself), and two novices, so the 
novices had to learn quickly. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. Except . . . I might have been bit.
I was taking out one bat from the net, and while I was focused, another one flew into the net, and then grabbed me. I thought he had only grabbed my sleeve (after all, I was too focused at the time to feel anything). I saw the bat, shrugged it off and got back to work, because there were about eight bats in the net at the time, and they kept coming. I didn't check for a wound, so I did not keep the bat. Usually, if you've been bit, you take the bat, euthenize it, and then send it in to get checked for rabies. The only way to tell if an animal has rabies is to examine the brain.
A couple of days later, I was home and looking at my arms. I picked off a small scab (smaller than the head of a match), and stopped myself. It was on the same arm in the same area as where the bat had grabbed me. I did a lot of research on rabies, and the problem is you cannot tell that you have rabies until the symptoms show, and once the symptoms show, you're a dead duck. So I had to weigh the odds.
Worrisome:
1. I know a bat grabbed my sleeve, and then later I found a small scab. This could be evidence of a bat biting me.
2. If the bat had rabies, then I could contract rabies.
3. If I didn't act, I might be one of the rare people to die of rabies in recent years.
4. The species that bit me, the silver-haired, has a higher occurrence of rabies than most other species.
Contrary to worry:
1. I don't know 100% that the bat bit me. I am working a rough job, and am reckless with my extremities. It could just be a scratch.
2. Less than 0.5% of bats have rabies. Though this is just an estimate. Some species have more rabies than others.
3. I have the pre-exposure series, which is preventative against unknown bites, and maybe if I didn't think I had been bitten, I would be protected (I doubt it works that way, darn.)
4. I know some bat biologists don't wear protective gloves, get bit, and take no further preventive action. Bat biologists tend to not die of rabies (an assumption based on non-researched generalizations)
5. I tend to overreact to situations, a.k.a. I'm paranoid.
Well, I decided to ask my boss, K.H., and she talked to other people. Other people said better safe than sorry. In short, I have had to get a rabies booster, and a tetanus booster. Both my arms feel like they have been punched pretty hard. Feeling the rabies booster slowly flowing through my limbs is a pretty disconcerting experience.
I probably did not need to get the shot, I probably would have been just fine. And I am fine. If it hadn't of been a silver-haired biting my sleeve where a couple of days later I found a very small scab, I would not have been worried. Any other bat I would not have worried. Summary: do not worry, I am fine, I will most likely never contract rabies from this bat, or any other bat in the future. Bats are good, both for the environment and for my mental health. These are some of the most important things.
It rained the rest of the week. Now I am dog-sitting a very well-behaved dog for K.H. Dog is taking a nap, and I get to watch cable on a giant plasma t.v., and eat fresh sugar snap peas and lettuce from my boss' garden. This is almost the sweet life. It's always interesting to live in someone's life for a short period.
Well, I decided long emails are not the way to go. Longer blogs are obviously a better solution. I haven't blogged in a very long time, so we shall see how consistent I can be. First off, Merut is not my real name. For those of you who do not know, it is the "Ancient Egyptian translation" of my name which I did when I was in the seventh grade. A very reliable translation, as I'm sure you would agree. It is an alias, because my father always warned me about "Knowing the Risk".
Currently I am half-way through my summer of field work in Utah. I've been here about two months now, and will continue to work here until the end of August. Then I will be able to go home to where religion is mostly a non-issue, I can get full strength beer at any of the 15 or so liquor stores within a couple square miles of my home, and I will no longer have to sleep on a futon mattress on the floor (not that I am complaining, I am quite grateful for it).
I have been working for the Division of Natural Resources doing surveys for Burrowing Owls, and occasionally Sage Grouse and Peregrine Falcons. In fact, I spent four hours of my life yesterday sitting by myself in a canyon, waiting for the Peregrine Falcons to emerge. Which they did not. Which meant I listened to four hours of NPR, straight. Daddy will be proud, or at least he should be.
The owl surveys were a mixed bag of fun and tediousness. I saw about 8 owls in the two months I looked for them. But when I did see them they were adorable. They just bob up and down, while looking at me, confused as to why I'm sounding like an owl. Now I am here to do bat surveys, which I enjoy much more. Unfortunately, out of the 7 sites we've done, we've been skunked at 5. Pretty awful odds. Hopefully the weather will improve, the moon will go away, and the bats will pop up. The worst part is that we've seen bats flying in two of the places we've been skunked and still not caught them. Instead we've been catching plenty of nasty beetles that are gross to pull out of the nets (you pretty much have to hold your breath, and kill the things, then pick their body parts out of the net). I keep hoping for just one elusive bat, the "morale booster."
That's about it for the moment. I'm two weeks behind in my study plan for the GRE, so hopefully I can pick it up again, because I don't reckon I want to start over for a fourth time. I just finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. For those who would be interested in an Autistic child's perception of the world (in fiction form of course), it is a short but easy read. Also I would recommend watching "30 Rock", because it is quite clever. Although the story lines can be forgettable, the characters are not. And I really need to start the outline for the Note I'm writing for the zoo.
P.S. Please someone come and visit. You can sleep on the floor next to my futon.
P.P.S. I have created a photo sharing thingy, so if you look in the left column, you'll see a link to my photos. If you click on the link, it will show you my photos, and you can either click on the individual photos, or click on the small slideshow button in the top right corner. Also, if you scroll down the photo page, there may be more than one page of photos. I'm saying this because I know some of you are "technologically challenged" (a.k.a. mom). Also, if you look in the left column of my blog, you'll see "Uploads". Anytime I post new pictures, links to them will be posted in the Uploads column. In other words, if you don't see new things there, you won't see any new ones in the photo location either. If you do see new ones, you may want to click on the photos link, because I may have posted more than just five photos. Clear as mud, or "turbid", to use a GRE word.
